The History of the Pentagram/PentacleThe pentagram, or five-pointed star, is one of the favourite symbols witches andmagicians love to use as a symbol of their religion. It has been so widely used throughoutthe past that the word 'pentacle', also originally meaning a five-pointed star, has becomethe familiar pentacle often used as a disc or plate of metal or wood, usually engraved withmagickal symbols, on many a Wiccans' altars, and used in magickal rites.The reason why the pentagram is regarded as the symbol of magick is because its five points represent the Four Elements of Life (Earth, Air, Fire and Water) plus Spirit (or Ether/Aether) the Unseen, the Beyond, and the source of occult power. For this reason,the pentagram should be drawn with the one point up, the point of Spirit presiding over the other four. It is Mind ruling over the World of Matter. The lower four pointsrepresenting the world, or man, and the higher point representing spirit. In the pentacle,with the star encircled, the circle surrounding the star means the universe, or Cosmic Egg.Symbolically, the entire pentacle means that man is the microcosm (little world) of themacrocosm (the universe as a whole).The four points placed below the upper point represent the physical man - Earth, Air, Fireand Water. This becomes the idea of Spirit before Man - the seeking of the spiritual, theMysteries within, returning to the Goddess and God. Placing the two points up, althoughwe remain the microcosm of the macrocosm, it represents more the mundane Man - Man before Spirit - the seeking of the material, the loss of the Mysteries in search of gain fromthe world.The apple has been revered throughout history as being sacred of the Goddess. In modernmythology, the apple became associated with the Tree of Knowledge, which Eve took and ate. The reason the apple is considered associated with the Goddess is revealed bycutting through the centre of the apple. Hidden in the apple's core, is a natural pentacle.This is the sign of the Goddess Kore (Core) - the Greek Holy Virgin, the inner soul of Mother Earth (Demeter). Just as Kore the Virgin was hidden in the heart of Mother Earthand represented the World Soul, so her pentacle was hidden in the apple. Kore is also analternative name of Kali.The pentagram has long been associated with many of the mystery schools, Wicca(Witchcraft) and magick. It is the simplest pattern of star shape that can be designed with but a solitary line; hence it is sometimes labelled "the Endless Knot." Additional titles are"the Goblin's Cross", "the Pentalpha", "the Witch's Foot", "the Devil's Star", "The Druid'sFoot", and "the Seal of Solomon" (more appropriately characterized by the hexagram). Itwas known as the Endless Knot, because it can be drawn without lifting the pen from the paper, though it requires concentration and care to draw a symmetrical figure in this way.It has long been believed that the pentagram was a powerful guardian against evil andsinister spiritual beings, hence it was an emblem of protection, and was sometimes wornas a talisman for happy homecomings. An old folk-song, "Green Grow the Rushes-O!"

alludes to the function of the pentagram over doors and windows in the line: "Five is thesymbol at your door." This was inscribed there as protection against evil.The power and associations of the pentagram have evolved throughout history. Today itis a wide-spread symbol of Wiccans and neo-pagans with much depth of magickal andsymbolic meaning. The pentagram symbol today is given many meanings and profoundsignificance, though much of this seems to be of recent origin. Although this may or maynot be the case, the pentagram has been utilized throughout history and in varioussituations:The earliest known utilization of the pentagram dates back to around the Uruk periodabout 3500 BCE (Before the Common Era) at Ur of the Chaldees in AncientMesopotamia where it was found on potsherds collectively with additional symbols of thetime associated with the earliest known evolution of written language.In later ages of Mesopotamian art, the pentagram was employed in regal etchings andwas representative of royal authority extending out to "the four corners-of the world".Among the Hebrews, the symbol was attributed to truth and to the five books of thePentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament or the Torah). It is sometimes(albeit incorrectly) termed the Seal of Solomon although its usage was similar to that of the hexagram.In Ancient Greece, it was designated the Pentalpha, being geometrically composed of five A's. Unlike earlier civilizations, the Greeks did not normally assign other symbolicinterpretations to the letters of their alphabet, but certain symbols became connected withGreek letter shapes or positions (e.g. Gammadion, Alpha-Omega).The geometry of the pentagram and its metaphysical affiliations were examined by thePythagoreans (named after Pythagoras, 586-506 BCE) who deemed it an insignia of perfection. Collectively with other learned knowledge of geometric figures andrelationships, it progressed into post-Hellenistic art where the pentacle may be seen in thelayouts of some temples. Pythagoras was known to have travelled all over the ancientworld searching out the mysteries (mystery schools) into which he was initiated, and itseems likely that his travels took him to Egypt, to Chaldea and to lands around Asia.There may be a correlation here with the presence of the pentagram in Tantric art.To the Gnostics, the pentagram was the 'Blazing Star" and, like the crescent moon, was asymbol relating to the magic and mystery of the nighttime sky.For the Druids, it was a symbol of the Goddess and Godhead.In Egypt, it was a symbol of the 'underground womb' and bore a symbolic relationship tothe concept of the pyramid form.

The Pagan Celts revered the pentagram as a sign of the goddess Morgan. Some old Celticcoins show the figure of a pentagram upon them. Something like the five-pointed star occurs naturally upon some fossils, and these objects have always been prized by Witchesfor this reason, as being highly magickal. One kind of fossil with a five-pointed figureupon it is the so-called shepherd's crown, a fossil sea-urchin.Early Christians attributed the pentagram to the Five Wounds of Christ and from thenuntil medieval times, it was a lesser-used Christian symbol. It is sometimes found inchurch architecture. There is a very beautiful form of a pentagram in one of the windowsof Exeter Cathedral. Before the time of the Inquisition and the burning times, there wereno 'evil' associations to the pentagram. Rather its form implied Truth, religious mysticismand the work of The Creator.The Emperor Constantine I, who, after gaining the help of the Christian church in hismilitary and religious takeover of the Roman Empire in 312 CE, (Common Era) used the pentagram, together with the chi-rho symbol (a symbolic form of the cross) in his sealand amulet. However, it was the cross (a symbol of suffering) rather than the pentagram(a symbol of truth) that wasused as a symbol by the Church which subsequently came to power and whose 'manifestdestiny' was to usurp the supreme power of the Roman Empire, using as an instrument aforged document - 'The Donation of Constantine'. The annual church feast of Epiphany,celebrating the visit of the three Magi to the infant Jesus as well as the Church's missionto bring 'truth' to the Gentiles had as its symbol the pentagram, (although in present timesthe symbol has been changed to a five-pointed star in reaction to the neo-pagan use of the pentagram).In the legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the pentagram was Sir Gawain'sglyph, inscribed in gold on his shield, symbolizing the five knightly virtues - generosity,courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety. This was also to honour the Goddess Morgan.In Medireview times, the 'Endless Knot' was a symbol of Truth and was a protectionagainst demons. It was used as an amulet of personal protection and to guard windowsand doors.The pentagram with one point upwards symbolized summer; with two points upwards, itwas a sign for winter.The Knights Templar, a military order of monks formed during the Crusades, gainedgreat wealth and prominence from the donations of those who joined the order and fromtreasures looted from the Holy Land. The centre of the Templar order around Rennes duChatres in France is noteworthy for the almost perfect natural pentangle of mountainsspanning several miles around it. There is good evidence of the creation of other exactgeomantic alignments and pentagrams as well as a hexagram in the area, centered on thisnatural pentagram, in the location of numerous chapels and shrines. It is clear fromremaining traces of Templar architecture that architects and masons associated with the powerful order were well aware of the geometry of the pentangle and the golden